Drew’s heart rammed itself against his ribcage. His heaving lungs sucked in the cold air that sliced it’s way down his throat and into his chest. His burning legs pumped furiously and nearly buckled with each step. He’d been running all day, his strength was almost spent, but the barbed whip of panic cut through his fatigue and drove him on.

He wished he were running to something -- that there were some stronghold or hiding place he might aim for -- but there was nothing except mile after mile of unchanging flatlands. No hills, no valleys, no forests, no signs of people. Nothing but this endless sea of grass that hissed at him as he waded through it. His only hope, if indeed there was any hope at all, was that this desperate run would put some distance between himself and the thing.

Drew glanced over his shoulder and found the sun’s watchful eye already half-lidded by the western horizon. He had less than hours before it would make it’s appearance under cover of darkness, and it seemed to Drew, as his eyes lingered on the sunset, that time was running at the worst pace possible. He didn’t know if he wanted the seconds to slow and gain him a few extra moments of light, or for them to speed by and save him the anxiety of waiting, but felt either would be an improvement.

It didn’t seem like time had been on his side for months. Ever since the thing had made it’s first appearance, which had been so swift he had barely noticed and soon forgotten it, the days had been growing shorter, and the nights longer. Which meant the creature had stared coming sooner and staying longer.

At first it had kept its distance and Drew had paid it little attention, and when it started getting closer Drew purposefully ignored it, thinking it would leave as unexpectedly as it had appeared. But when it kept coming back, night after night, he began to feel hunted, and it wasn’t long before this feeling was proven to be justified.

When Drew looked westward again there was nothing left of the sunset but a thin, glowing line. Night was almost here but perhaps he would survive af -- A strange call ripped through the silence; that all too familiar cackling sound, like weird, unearthly laughter. Cold fear crawled it’s way down Drew’s spine and settled in his stomach, lending his legs extra speed he didn’t know he had.

It was coming.

The last line of sunlight faded away, and the earth blended with the moonless sky into a single black mass. Still Drew kept to his desperate pace, even now entertaining the vain hope that he would escape. Suddenly, he heard the whispering of grass and the soft crunch of rapid footsteps coming upon him from behind. He pulled a knife from his belt and continued to run as the sound grew louder… and nearer.

After a couple of minutes a shadowy figure, barely visible in the darkness, streaked past just a few feet to his right. A few seconds later it ran by again, this time a little closer. This continued off and on, and each time the figure drew a little nearer -- laughing at him all the while -- until it was coming so close that Drew could feel it brush against him as it passed. It was toying with him.

Then, all of a sudden, one of Drew’s feet caught on an uneven patch of earth and he pitched forward. He took several running steps in an attempt to keep his footing, but it was no use. He fell in a heap, too dazed and tired to jump back to his feet.

It was the moment of weakness that the creature had been waiting for. It charged at him again, it’s laughing call rising to a feral scream. Drew just barely managed to push himself to his knees before it made contact, and knocked him onto his back.

The dark figure seemed to swallow Drew up, simultaneously eating at him and suffocating him. He tried desperately to wrestle free, but he could barely move. Finally, with momentous effort, he managed to get his right arm free, and he began to go to work with his knife. He kept stabbing and slashing wildly as he and his attacker struggled, their screams becoming so intermingled that he couldn’t tell which came from the thing and which came from him.

Several hours later the sun rose over the eastern horizon, it’s rays bathing Drew in a golden light. The light glinted in his dark blue eyes as he lay in the grass and stared up at the sky. Nothing remained to tell of last night’s struggle except an uneven circle of flattened grass and Drew’s knife, buried in his own chest.

Life can be hard. We all have struggles, and our own way of dealing with them. And so often, when the hard things come, the ways we try to deal with them can be harmful. We start cutting, drinking, eating, shopping, taking drugs, running away, complaining, making jokes, etc. and often these things, which do little to mask the problem, actually make it worse. In the end, they may even lead to our own self-destruction.

In the end we need someone else to fight the darkness in our lives. Someone who knows how to shine light in every corner of our soul. If we want to be free, we need Jesus.

Quote:

Thus says the Lord:“In a time of favor I have answered you;in a day of salvation I have helped you;I will keep you and give youas a covenant to the people,to establish the land,to apportion the desolate heritages,saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’They shall feed along the ways;on all bare heights shall be their pasture;they shall not hunger or thirst,neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,for he who has pity on them will lead them,and by springs of water will guide them.-(Isaiah 49:8-10, ESV)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum